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GOD'S JUDGMENTS 

TEACHING RIGHTEOUSNESS. 






j\. SERMON 



• ELIVKIIED ON 



I THE NATIONAL FAST DAY, 



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JANITARY 4, 1801, 



5 IN ST. MATTHEW'S PARISH, % 

^, I'RINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD., 



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KEY. lOHX II. CHEW, A. M., 
Rector 









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WASHINGTON: 

R. A. WATERS, PRINTER, NEAR KIRKWOOD HOUSE. 
1861. 



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GOD'S JUDGMENTS 

TEACHING RIGHTEOUSNESS. 



A. SERMON 



BKLIVBBXD ON 



THE NATIONAL FAST DAY. 



JANUARY 4, 1861. 



m ST. MATT»Ews vmzn, 

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD., 



BT THK 



/ 
REV. JOHN H. CHEW, A. M., 

Rector. 







WASHINGTON : 

R. A. WATERS, PRINTER, NEAR KIRKWOOD HOUSE. 
1861, 



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A. SERMOlSr. 



l^AiAn XXVI. 9. — " When thy Judgments arc in tho earth, tL« inh»bi*»Btt 
of the world will loaro rightcouyoess. 



These words are of especial interest to us to-daj. God's 
Judgment is now upon our land. One of the most grievous 
of the divine judgments is overshadowing our people. You 
have heard tho earnest proclamation of our Chief Magistrate, 
calling upon us to humble ourselves before the Lord. You 
have heard the fatherly exhortation of our Bishop, enforcing 
the requisition of the civil authority. 

At the instance of both of these authorities, we have uni- 
ted in the most earnest entreaties to our heavenly Father, 
that he will have mercy upon us — that he will spare us — 
that he will turn us from our sins — and, in his own good 
time, turn from us those evils that we have most justly de- 
served. 

And what is the judgment that has overshadowed our land 
and clothed our people with mourning, or, at least, filled 
their hearts with anxiety and the most dreadful apprehen- 
sions ? "What is it? It is not the pestilence. Never has 
the whole country been blessed with more healthful seasons. 
It is not famine. The greater portion of our land has 
brought forth its increase with unusual abundance : our gar- 
ners are full and overflowing. It is not the invasion of a for- 
eign enemy. Wc are at peace with all the world. The 
most powerful nations take pleasure in doing us honor. 
Princes come in person to acknowledge the excellence of 
our institutions. Our flag is respected — almost reverenced — 
•on every sen. A proper npprcci.Ttion of the Father of ouj" 



Country has come to be considered a most excellent criterion 
of civilization. Wtiere Washington is most highly honored, 
there is most liberty and most public virtue. Where he is 
not known, or, being known, is not honored, there " darkness 
covereth the land, and gross darkness, the people." 

We are not suffering, then, from any of the public calami- 
ties that usually give rise to the duty in which we are now 
engaged — the observance of a National Fast ; — but we are 
laboring under a visitation more grievous, if possible, than 
any of these ; a state of things which, if not overruled and 
remedied by the good providence of God, may bring upon us 
evils infinitely worse than all of these together, and make us 
wish that God had humbled us by a famine, or cut us off by 
a pestilence, or cemented our union by a foreign invasion, 
and not allowed us to enter into civil strife, and turn our 
swords against those they were meant to defend; evils that 
may well put into the minds of many of our best citizens the 
noble sentiment that has lately been so happily expressed by 
one of our gallant officers,* " I wish not to fight against my 
countrymen. If they compel me to do so, may the first shot 
they fire pierce my heart !" In such a warfare (from which 
may God preserve us !) the lot most to be envied would in- 
deed be that thus indicated — the lot of those who are the 
first to fall. 

Difi"erent views which are held with regard to public mea- 
sures, are held with so much tenacity and urged with so much 
violence, that it seems impossible for us to continue much 
longer a united people ; and at the same time, so strong are 
the bonds by which the fathers of our republic, under divine 
guidance, compacted the union of our States, that it seems 
equally impossible for that Union to be dissolved without the 
most dreadful evils — the most direful calamities befalling our 
citizens, 

^ Maior Andersou, at fort Sumter, 



Already, even by the pi'ospoct of sueh an occurrence, pub- 
lic credit is shaken, commerce is impeded, all the depart- 
ments of trade arc suffering, and honest laborers arc depriv- 
ed of employment and deprived of bread. And if such bo 
the effects of the prospect, uhat may we not expect from the 
reality ? If the distant cloud can overshadow us with such 
gloom, what may we not apprehend if it should be allowed to 
come nearer and dart upon us those thunderbolts which, even 
in the distance, are so much dreaded ! 

But our object to-day is not so much to distress ourselves 
with anxious apprehensions of the future, as to humble our- 
selves in remembrance of the past, and draw near to God in 
a sincere repentance for all our sins, that have deserved, and 
perhaps occasioned, our present troubles. In obedience to 
authority, both civil and eccJesiastical, we keep this day as a 
day of national fasting — ^a day of humiliation before God. 
It is proclaimed by authority "to bo kept holy as a solemn 
fast." 

When Jonah prophesied againstNineveh and announced its 
approaching destruction, the king proclaimed a fast, and urged 
his people to "cry mightily unto God and to turn, every one 
from his evil way and from the violence that was in their 
hands." With such manifest warnings as are now jjiven to 
us, it would have been worse than heathen impiety in our , 
rulers not to have made the requisition that we are now obey- 
ing. And now that the requisition is made of us, and the 
day has been set apart for this holy duty, we shall be great- 
ly guilty if we observe it not in its spirit as well as in its 
letter: the men of Nineveh will rise up with us in the judg- 
ment and condemn us; for they really humbled themselves 
before God, and God had mercy upon them and spared their 
city. 

And before we proceed any further, let us remark, how pro- 
per a fast it was, that the king of Nineveh proclaimed and the 



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|f,eople observed. It was not simply an afflicting of them- 
selves in outward things ; it was not merely an abstaining 
from their ordinary enjoyments; it was all of this; but at 
the same time it was much more besides ; they were exhorted 
to turn from the evil of their ways, and to forsake their 
sins. This is the fast that God respects ; a fast that enables 
us more fully to realize the evil of sin, and gives us strength 
to forsake it. Oh, my brethren, that we might keep such 
a fast this day ! Oh, that all our people throughout the vast 
extent of this great republic, might keep such a real, genuine 
and spiritual fast in the sight of God ! If this could be the 
case — if this day could be the commencement of the general 
prevalence of true religion amongst our people — then indeed, 
our present troubles would result in the richest blessings, the 
greatest prosperity, our nation has ever enjoyed. Our vexed 
questions, looked at dispassionately and calmly discussed, 
would soon be happily adjusted ; our rulers and counsellors 
and all our public officers, living in the fear of God, would be 
worthy of the confidence of men ; all our citizens, being only 
anxious to perform their respective duties, and no longer 
restless, impatient, and grasping after offices, would expe- 
rience "how good and pleasant it is for bretheren to dweli 
together in unity." The State would be well served every- 
. where by honest men ; and the consequence would be, that 
peace and tranquility and happiness would be established 
again throughout our land. If all our people would be taught 
of the Lord ; — if all, without exception, would learn that 
righteousness which God's judgments are designed to teach; 
then should we be indeed a favored nation ; our land would 
realize those prophetic descriptions of the Messiah's King- 
dom, which, as far as they refer to the Church militant, are 
highly poetical, and arc literally true only of the Church tri- 
umphant. Heaven would be begun on earth. But if this 
imay not be, as surely it may not, let us trust, and let us 



7 

fnrncstly pi'\v, tlmt we may come as iicur it as possible- 
May Buch a general impression bo made by the present se- 
rious aspect of affairs, and by the observance of this day, that 
a sense of our dependence upon God, and of our duty both 
to Him and to each other, may widely prevail and produce its 
proper effects upon us all ! 

One object ■which wc have in the observance of this day, is 
to make a public ackno^Yledgment of our dependence upon 
God. Feeling and realising, in this time of distress, our en- 
tire dependence upon Almighty God, wc come to Ilim for 
mercy; "we cry to Ilim for help in this our time of need; we 
draw near to Him, confessing our sins, and acknowledging 
that •whatever he shall lay upon us, wc justly deserve it all. 

In a popular government, such as ours, there is apt to bo 
a great deal of evil in connexion with the obtaining and ad- 
ministering of offices of trust ; and I fear that there has been, 
and that there is now, among us a great amount of this kind 
of evil. Such great improvements have been made, of late, 
in arts and sciences and all things pertaining to this world, 
that too many of us have been so much occupied with the 
things af this world — the things that are seen — as to be too 
unmindful of God, from whom all these improvements came, 
and of all the things that are unseen — the great and dread- 
ful realities of the future world. When I consider the unex- 
ampled increase of our population, and its utter disproportion 
to the means of religious worship and religious improvement, 
I am amazed at the contemplation of the vast number of our 
citizens who must be practically unbelievers — who must be 
living in open neglect of their duty to God. When we add 
to these considerations the enormous growth of some of our 
cities; and when we remember how sin, crime, and all manner 
of profligacy and ungodliness, have always abounded where 
large numbers are collected together; we have too much rea- 
son to fear that the sins of our people are sufficient to call 



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down upon us the mo :t severe, the most dreadful visitations 
of divine justice. 

We come together to-dav then to acknowledge these sins, 
and to humble ourselves under the sense of them. And not 
only do we mourn to-day for the sins of our people in gen- 
eral ; but each and every one for his own sins in particular* 
Each one of us is an individual member of the great body 
politick, the nation ; and as the sins of the nation are made 
up of the sins of all the individuals of whom it is composed, 
so the most acceptable way for the nation to humble itself 
and confess its sins, is for each separate person to examine 
into his own conscience, to probe his own heart, to search 
its secret recesses, to confess his own sins with shame and 
confusion of face, to pray for the grace of repentance, and to 
resolve, by the assistance of that grace, to live henceforth a 
sober, a righteous, and a godly life. 

If the present judgment — the confusion of our counsels — 
our being given up to our own devices — is owing to the sins of 
our nation, it is owing in part, of course, to the sins of each 
one of us. But more than this may be said* We read in 
scripture of great national calamities being occasioned wholly, 
by the transgressions of a single individual. We read of 
fearful consequences to a people, from the sin of only one 
of their number — from the sin of an Achan, a private citizen 
as well as from the sin of a David or a Saul. 

This point has been forcibly urged by another. " One 
soldier, taken by himself," says Dr. South, "is of no con- 
siderable force ; but as joined to the body of an army, he will 
conquer and trample down towns and cities. One single 
drop of water, how contemptible is it ! but as it is joined to 
the ocean, so is it terrible ; it drowns, it destroys. Where- 
fore let no one flatter himself and think that his sin has no 
share in the misery of the nation ; for every particular man 
may think so as well as one ; and if it should be true of 



9' 

cvei-y oti'e, to vliosc sin should we ascribe the calamities \fo' 
endure ? For the sin of its inhabitants, a land is said tc 
mourn ; a fruitful land to be made barren for the wickedness 
of them that dwell therein. And Y?h'o knows but mine and 
thy sins have provoked God! to visit the nation with this 
judgment ? IIow dost thou know but thy profaineness, thy 
drunkenness, may cause the land to mourn ! thy slighting 
God's ordinances, and thy causeless absenting thyself from 
His worship, may cause God to appear against the nation in 
anger !" 

If these things be so, how earnestly, how heartily, how 
sincerely, should each one of us repent and turn to God ! 
Each one of us knows, as none else knows but God, the 
plague of his own heart, the secret sin, the love of sin, which 
he has been- allowing. Oh, let us lay it all open to God this 
day. Let us pray God to open our eyes, that we may see 
and know our sinfulness ; that we may see sin in all its hate- 
fulness ; that we may loathe and abhor it ; that we may aban- 
don and forsake it ; tha,t we may so tru'ly repent and turn 
unto Him, that we may enjoy His favor, and be prepared 
either to bear patiently whatever He shall lay upon us, and 
do our duty under whatever trials m'ay a'wait us, or else to 
make a proper manifestation of our thankfulness, if in Hig' 
infinite mercy He shall remove from us the cup of bitterness 
and bless us with public prosperity. 

Turning thus to the Lord with all our hearts, we cannot 
but derive advantage even from His present grievous chas- 
tisement. All His visitations and corrections are intended 
for the good of His people ; and doubtless they will promote 
our good, if only we submit patiently to His infinite wisdom. 
The hyssop may be bitter ; but doubtless it is intended to 
purify and cleanse us. All that we have to do is to put our 
trust in God, to repent of our sins, and to walk in the fear 
and love of God, doing our duty in whatever station He ha?- 



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placed us ;. we may well trust all else to Ills infinite wisdom 
and merey ; all will be well with us— most probably even 
in. this world, and certainly in the better world to come. 

And as we pray that the anxieties of the present season 
may be blessed to our good and the good of our people ; and 
as we read in our text that " when God's judgments are in 
the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteous- 
ness," let us now, in conclusion, briefly consider what more 
we may learn, what further instruction we may derive, from 
the dispensation of Providence, under which we are now 
mourning. 

In our own weakness, helplessness, and utter inability to 
avert impending evils, we learn to look up and behold the 
majesty of God. A nation clothed in mourning — a vast as- 
sembly bathed in tears — a royal bier containing a lifeless 
form which once was royalty, suggested, on a well known 
occasion, a sentiment with which we may well be impressed 
in surveying the present condition of our country ; and that 
is, that we are as nothing— we are less than the dust of the 
balance—" God only is great ! Crod onhj is great.!-' 

As we are reminded by the Prophet, "Behold the nations 
are as a drop of the bucket and are counted as the small 
dust of the balance ; behold He taketh up the Isles as a very 
little thing. All nations before Him are as nothing ; and 
they are counted to Him less than nothing, and vanity." 

But though God is so great and so highly exalted ; yet we 
are assured that He condescends to behold the things that 
are done upon earth. Qm Lord has taught us that not even 
a sparrow falleth to the ground without the knowledge of our 
heavenly Father. And if that be the case, how can we be- 
lieve that He is indifierent to the fall, or the rise of a king- 
dom or a republic ? I believe that our republic was raised 
up by His providence. I trust it was intended to promote 
some great and good ends which he designs to accomplish. 



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And I know tluit if it now fails, it will bo uh account of tho 
wickedness of our people, and our unworthiness of the trust 
committed to «s. 

From the danger now so imminent to our most admirahlo 
government, and from the causes that threaten its destruction, 
we may learn to realize more fully than ever, the true origin 
of all good governments, and to feel that "the Powers that 
be," whether hereditary monarchs or rulers chosen by tho 
people, *'are of God," and are to be respected as represent- 
ing His authority. We are too apt to associate tho divino 
authority of government with the exploded notion of 'the di- 
vine right of kings.' But now, by the occurrences of tho 
present day, we may well be reminded, as I doubt not most 
of you have been since the commencement of this crisis — 
we may well be reminded of these important truths; that 
God so constituted man that he stands in need of civil f^ov- 
ernment ; that God gave man faculties, by the proper U30 
of which he is capable of supplying that necessity, of which 
he is thus conscious ; and that when, in the exercise of these 
faculties, men have compacted a form of government, the le- 
gal administrators of that government are to be respected as 
bearing the authority of God. 

Taking this view of the origin of government, it follows of 
course that whenever, by reason of human imperfection, there 
shall be any inequality or injustice in the workings of its 
constitutional provisions, then wisdom suggests, and justice re- 
quires, that the rights of all should be respected, and that ar- 
rangements should be made, but made with discretion to se- 
cure those rights. 

The point which, in this connexion, I would urge, is this: 
that it was God who gave to our forefathers the wisdom antl 
the virtue, to construct this government — this most excellent 
government, which has so long been the wonder and the ad- 
miration of the world; that though it may occasionally need 



12 

repairs, those repairs should be made calmly, dispassionately, 
with circumspection and with caution ; and that it is entirely 
too sacred a fabric to be lightly and needlessly destroyed. 
Certain it is that if it is once destroyed, its place will never 
again be supplied. 

And finally, let us learn from our present troubles how im- 
portant it is to be moderate and calm, full of charity and 
brotherly love. Jf those that have the disposal of the ques- 
tions that now divide us could only approach them in this 
spirit, a satisfactory settlement might soon be accomplished. 
Let U3 all, my brethren, endeavor to think soberly and talk 
calmly and discreetly on all the subjects that are now agita- 
ted. I mean not that we should be timid, and, for fear of con- 
sequences, advise or desire that any State, or any section of 
our co»ntry? should submit to oppression or injustice. It is 
not thus that our Avorthy ancestors taught us to act. But 
we should desire, and, as far *s our influence goes, we 
should endeavor, that the rights of all may be secured by the 
use of moderate and peaceful measures. Such measures are 
by far the most likely to secure those rights. If we are all 
4iscf eet, and endeavor to g.ct in the fear of God, God will or- 
der all things as in his infinite wisdom he sees to be best for 

us. 

Oh, let us remember that we are brethren, speaking the 
same lani^uage, q,nd bound together by all the ties of country, 
kindred and religion. Let us pray God to inspire us with sen- 
timents of brotherly love, to enable us to exercise forbearance 
in this our time of trial, to make allowance for each other's 
infirmities, and to bear each other's burdens. Let us call to 
mind the hardships^ the perils, the sufferings, in the patient 
endurance of which our forefathers procured for us this good- 
ly heritage ; and let us endeavor by all virtuous and honora- 
V)le means, to retain it s^s the inheritance of all their sons. 

I-et us remember the days of old, when the North and the 



13 

South were so firmly uniteJ in the honJd of a coimnon pa- 
triotism — a common love of country, and a fellowsliip in suf- 
fering for that country's good. Let not sympathy for citlier 
section of our country obliterate charity for the other ; but 
let us remember that throughout its whole extent, and in 
every part of it, we are all united by ties that should be re- 
garded with a holy reverence. 

May God, who alone can order the unruly wills and affec- 
tions of sinful men, so order all things by his providence, 
that brotherly love may be restored to us again, and we may 
live together in quietness and confidence ! 

May God so bless to us his present judgments, that we may 
derive from them the lessons of righteousness they are de- 
signed to convey, and walking before him in all holy obe- 
dience, enter into that godly quietness, that brotherly confi- 
dence, in which alone there is lasting strength — Amen. 



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